Native American Diabetes Research

Diabetes

Diabetes is a fairly common disease found in the modern day world, but many people still don't know what it really is. Niddk.nih.gov states that diabetes is a disease that occurs when one's blood pressure is too high or blood glucose. Blood glucose is the body’s main source of energy, and the body obtains this energy from food. If one has too much glucose in their blood for an extended period of time it can cause serious health problems such as heart disease, kidney disease, hypoglycemia foot problems, eye disease, dental problems, and nerve damage. The two most common forms of diabetes are type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is when one's body attacks the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. Someone with type 1 diabetes needs daily insulin injections to survive, this type of diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes it is when one’s body does not create or use insulin effectively. According to diabetes.org for those with type 2 diabetes “At first, your pancreas makes extra insulin to make up for it. But, over time it isn't able to keep up and can’t make enough insulin to keep your blood glucose at normal levels.” this form of diabetes is most commonly diagnosed in middle-aged people. According to the www.mayoclinic.org,  “Some people who have type 2 diabetes can achieve their target blood sugar levels with diet and exercise alone, but many also need diabetes medications or insulin therapy.” Diabetes is a disease that affects many people and so everyone should make the effort to understand what it is, and demographics are more affected by diabetes than others.

This graph is from graphicsbuzz.com and illustrates the different percentages of the population that have diabetes.

       The demographic with the highest incidences of diabetes is the Native American population. According to Cdc.gov, “Rates of diagnosed diabetes among American Indians and Alaska Natives younger than 35 doubled from 1994-2004.” To put it in perspective, the total population of the world, found on cbsnews.com, that has diabetes amounts to 8.3% of the total world population. While 33.5% of the Native American population has diabetes. As reported by Anthropology.ua.edu, diabetes began to show up in the Native American population in 1950, then the incidences of diabetes in the Native American population exponentially increased in 1970, and by 1990 almost every single Native American was in some way associated with diabetes through personal experience or a family member. And the most common form of diabetes among Native Americans is none other than type 2 diabetes.

This image comes from diabetesdaily.com and illustrates some of the treatments of diabetes.

     The two main reasons behind the increased amount of incidences of diabetes in the Native American population has to do with the diet, environmental factors, and genetics. According to a paper at Anthropology.ua.edu, the ancient Native American was accustomed to the hunter-gatherer lifestyle where they were having large feasts and then not having food for a long time. “...excessive caloric intake, and rapid as well as elevated insulin secretion had enabled these populations of hunter-gatherers to survive sporadic food availability under feast or famine conditions.”  This information is supported by the huffingtonpost.com who looked at the feces of the ancient Native Americans and found that their diets “subsisted on a fiber-filled diet of prickly pear, yucca, and flour…” the huffingtonpost.com found that this extremely fibrous diet that had “low impact on the blood sugar” made the Native Americans vulnerable when they were introduced to the extremely rich food of the settlers which contained high amounts of sugar. Genetic factors also came into play, as Native Americans are more likely to get diabetes because of their Indian heritage. They have some genetic markers, found ncbi.gov, such as 4q and 7q that have been connected with insulin resistance. This site also states that there are environmental factor attributing the Native Americans increased susceptibility to diabetes such as “...obesity, dietary composition, and physical inactivity…” all of these factors connect to the early observation made by Anthropology.ua.edu and huffingtonpost.com that the change from a high-fiber diet to a rich one made the Native Americans more vulnerable to diabetes. All of these factors lead to the increased instances of diabetes in Native Americans.